R. P. GUPTA, J. ( 1 ) THE only legal question involved in this appeal is whether the Court of Addl. Distt. Judge, Bhopal who tried the suit for divorce filed by a muslim wife against her husband, and the suit was tried from inception till completion of evidence by the both parties and the matter was fixed for final argument, was not a proper trial and the plaint could be ordered to be returned for presentation in the proper civil Court of lowest jurisdiction in the district i. e. Civil Judge, Class II, as was ultimately directed by the order of the learned Distt. Judge, on objection taken by the husband/respondent at the stage when the case was fixed for final arguments. ( 2 ) IT may be noticed that the civil suit for seeking divorce by the appellant against the husband was filed. The case was filed before the III Addl. Distt. Judge, Bhopal as distribution memo prepared by the Distt. Judge in March, 94 under provisions of S. 15 of the M. P. Civil Courts Act, 1958, directed, under item No. 4, that all suits or proceedings between the parties to a marriage for a decree of nullity of marriage or restitution of conjugal rights or judicial separation or dissolution of marriage shall be filed before Shri Gulab Sharma III Addl. Judge to the Court of Distt. Judge, Bhopal. This suit had been filed on 21-10-94 as per this distribution memo. Notice was issued to the defendant who contested on written statement and evidence was led by both the sides and the case reached the final stage for hearing the arguments. Till that time no objection was taken that the jurisdiction was improper and that the suit should have been filed before Civil Judge, Class II or in the Court of lower jurisdiction than that of Addl. Distt. Judge as the jurisdictional value of the suit has been fixed at Rs. 400 by the plaintiff himself. ( 3 ) AT the stage of arguments the husband had applied that as per provisions of S. 15 CPC, a civil suit should be tried by the civil Court of lowest jurisdiction in terms of pecuniary value and so the plaint should be returned. This plea was accepted by the impugned order. 400 by the plaintiff himself. ( 3 ) AT the stage of arguments the husband had applied that as per provisions of S. 15 CPC, a civil suit should be tried by the civil Court of lowest jurisdiction in terms of pecuniary value and so the plaint should be returned. This plea was accepted by the impugned order. ( 4 ) IN order to appreciate the point involved it will be proper to look into two relevant provisions i. e. S. 15 CPC and S. 15 of M. P. Civil Courts Act, 1958. These are as under :-Section 15 CPC"every suit shall be instituted in the Court of the lowest grade competent to try it. "section 15 of M. P. Civil Courts Act, 1958"notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (V of 1908), or the law relating of Courts of Small Causes, for the time being in force in any area, or in any other provisions contained in this Act, the Distt. Judge, may, by order in writing, direct that any civil business cognizable by his Court or by other civil Courts established u/s. 5, in his civil district, shall be distributed amongst himself and amongst other Courts under his control and amongst Addl. Judges of such other Courts 'inter se' in such manner as he deems fit; Provided that, except in so far as it may affect the exclusive jurisdiction of a Court of Small Causes or of a Court invested with the jurisdiction of a Court of Small Causes, a direction given under this section shall not empower any Court to exercise powers or deal with business beyond the limits of its pecuniary and notified territorial jurisdiction. " ( 5 ) A perusal of S. 15 of M. P. Civil Courts Act reveals that it has been worded to be 'notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure or the law relating to the small causes for the time being, in force in any area, or in any other provisions contained in this Act'. So this provision is applicable. The interpretation would be that under this S. 15 of M. P. Civil Courts Act, a Distt. Judge can prepare a distribution memo laying down therein which Court shall try which cases. The Court of Distt. So this provision is applicable. The interpretation would be that under this S. 15 of M. P. Civil Courts Act, a Distt. Judge can prepare a distribution memo laying down therein which Court shall try which cases. The Court of Distt. Judge is the Principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction u/s. 7 of the M. P. Civil Courts Act which provides as under :-"the Court of the Distt. Judge shall be the Principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction in the civil district. " ( 6 ) SECTION 2 (4), C. P. C. defines a 'district' as meaning the local limits of the jurisdiction of a Principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction (hereinafter called a 'district Court') and includes the local limits of the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of a High Court. Thus a Distt. Court is a principal Court of original jurisdiction of any district. ( 7 ) IF we read the above provisions, it will become clear that a distribution memo is required to be prepared by the Distt. Judge under the provisions of S. 15 of M. P. Civil Courts Act. Once the distribution memo is prepared it has the force of law regarding procedure as to in which Court a particular suit can be tried. Since the provisions of Section 15 of the Civil M. P. Civil Courts Act operate notwithstanding the provisions of S. 15, C. P. C. they are entitled to have precedence over S. 15, C. P. C. Thus the distribution memo prepared by the Distt. Judge will not be called in question regarding its legality that a particular type of suit is not required to be tried by a Civil Court of lowest jurisdiction of the District. ( 8 ) LEARNED counsel for the appellant brings to my notice a pronouncement of this Court, of course by a single bench, titled Hanuman Rice Mill v. G. G. Dandekar Machine Workslimited (1984 0 MPLJ 2), in which it was laid down that the Court of Addl. Distt. Judge is constituted under the M. P. Civil Courts Act, as a distinct class of Court, i. e. distinct from the Court of Distt. Judge and the powers of the Court of Addl. Distt. Distt. Judge is constituted under the M. P. Civil Courts Act, as a distinct class of Court, i. e. distinct from the Court of Distt. Judge and the powers of the Court of Addl. Distt. Judge, be it with regard to the original jurisdiction or be it with regard to appeal, are derived exclusively from the distribution memo which is prepared by the District Judge in exercise of his power u/s. 7 (2)/15 of M. P. Civil Courts Act. The distribution memo is not merely a ministerial or administrative order having no force of law. The memo is in effect an order passed by the Distt. Judge in exercise of his statutory powers u/ss. 7 (2) and 15 of the Act as such has the force of law. ( 9 ) I respectively agree with this reasoning. It is obvious in view of S. 15 of the M. P. Civil Courts Act. The Distt. Judge had prepared a distribution memo in this case and the suit was filed before the Court where it should have been filed according to the distribution memo. It has been tried till the final stage and only arguments are to be heard. ( 10 ) THE learned Addl. Distt. Judge failed to advert to legal aspects pertaining to his jurisdiction and appears to have restricted himself to S. 15, C. P. C. while referring to the same as S. 15 of M. P. Civil Courts Act; perhaps wrongly, to order return of the plaint presented before the competent Court of the lowest jurisdiction. ( 11 ) THE distribution memo would be operative in respect of valuation of the suit and it does not refer to valuation of the suit for jurisdictional purpose and the jurisdiction of the Court of A. D. J. in terms of pecuniary valuation was put at Rs. 50,000/- in the distribution memo. ( 12 ) FOR the reasons noted above the impugned order cannot be sustained. The same is set aside. The appeal is thus accepted and the suit is remanded back to the Court of III Addl. Distt. Judge Bhopal for decision of the case on merits from the stage till which it was tried. In view of the legal questions involved I leave the parties to bear their own costs. A copy of this order shall be remitted to the trial Court at once. Appeal allowed. .